Cry Pretty
by mama's-broken-heart
Summary: She looks in the mirror and notices the black running down her cheeks and knows she can't hide the truth. She's pregnant.
1. Chapter 1

**Cry Pretty**

" _Yeah it's all the same, when you're looking in the mirror. You can't hide it, you can't fight what the truth is."_

 _ **Three weeks after PPF.**_

Ziva David was never one to get emotional, but recently she found herself crying over the smallest of things. At first she chalked it up to still being upset over Tony but the longer time went on, the more she realized that wasn't the only thing bothering her. Three days ago, she woke up feeling nauseous and spent an hour hovered over the toilet, thinking back to what she had eaten the night before and wondering how she had gotten food poisoning. When she woke up nauseous again yesterday though she knew something was wrong so first thing this morning she went to the drug store. She was heading to the checkout, arms laden with anti-nausea and flu medication when the display at the end of the aisle made her stop in her tracks. With shaky hands and a racing heart she reached down and picked up the box quickly, looking around to see if anyone was watching her. That was four hours ago. Now, she's pacing the floor of her bathroom, waiting and mumbling to herself.

"I am crazy. There is no way. This is not possible. I am being irrational. That is it, I am just irrational. But why ha-"

The buzz of the timer cut through her thoughts and she stopped at the sink. Hands braced on the counter, she released a nervous breath and looked down at the three tests. Tears streamed down her face as she looked up in the mirror. She can't hide the truth and the truth is that all three tests were positive.

"I am pregnant." This time her shaky hand came up to cover her mouth as she let out a sob and slid to the floor. She was pregnant and the father of her child was half way around the world.

Almost an hour later she pulled herself off the floor and looked at herself in the mirror. What little mascara she had adorned this morning has now left black streaks down her cheeks and her eyes were red and puffy. She splashes water on her face to try to calm down but to no avail. She needs to call someone but the one person she wants to call most in the world she promised to let go.

"That was before. The circumstances have changed now. Oh my I must stop talking to myself." She hangs her head and notices that her right hand is now resting on her still flat stomach. "I did not even notice." She laughs at herself and exits the bathroom, making her way to the kitchen to make tea before walking around the living room. "I believe I will talk to you then little one. I cannot believe this is real. One day I am all alone and the next day I suddenly have a baby growing inside me." Her hand rubs over her stomach contentedly. "I cannot believe that one night, although it was not one time, could produce such a blessing in disguise." She sits down on the sofa and kicks her feet up on one end. Pulling her shirt up, she runs her hand over her stomach, looking for any possible change. "I know it is too soon to feel you, but I want you to know that I already love you so much and I will do everything in my life to protect you. No baby will ever be as loved and cared for as you." Tears come to Ziva again, but this time harder and faster as she realizes that she will be raising this baby alone.

 _ **One week later**_

A ringing noise rouses him from sleep in the middle of the night and it takes two swipes at his alarm clock before he realizes his phone is ringing.

"M'lo." His sleepiness is reflected in his voice. He's shocked awake, however, when the voice on the other end is not Gibbs, but a sob instead. "Hello? Who is this?" A glance at the phone number does nothing to jog his memory of who this mystery caller might be but the next words clear up any confusion he may have had.

"To-Tony." He had to hold back tears of his own as he responded.

"Ziva?" Another sob come over the phone as she spoke through the phone.

"I, I am pregnant."

 _ **Well this was a total spur of the moment story. I got the idea when I was writing "What Hurts the Most" and decided to write this as a separate story. Hope you liked it! Please review (and I may be persuaded into writing more.)**_


	2. Chapter 2

" _You can't turn off the flood, when the dam breaks"_

" _To-Tony." He had to hold back tears of his own as he responded._

 _"Ziva?" Another sob come over the phone as she spoke through the phone._

 _"I, I am pregnant."_

In Israel, Ziva covered her mouth in shock, not prepared for the ramifications of the words she let slip. She actually hadn't planned on calling him at all but then all of a sudden the phone was in her hand and she was dialing his number and his concerned voice made the news fall from her mouth like the tears from her eyes. Other than a small gasp, nothing else came across the phone and she began to wonder if this was all a mistake.

"I – I am sorry Tony. I should not have told you like this. I should – I should go." The phone was half-way from her ear to the table before her words registered with him and he spoke frantically.

"No, Ziva wait!" She paused before hitting the end call button, thinking hanging up would be the best option but knowing he would call back immediately. She brought the phone back up to her ear, waiting patiently for him to continue. "Ziva are, are you sure?" She wanted to scoff at the question but knew it was a valid one for him to ask.

"Yes Tony. I have not been to the doctor yet but I have taken five tests and they were all positive. And before you ask, yes, the baby is yours." Relief washed over her as she spoke the words aloud but was quickly replaced with fear when she faintly heard him crying on the other end of the line. "Tony?" Movement could be heard before he spoke again.

"I need to see you Ziva. I'm Skyping you now." Still in shock, she just sat there until the ringing noise could be heard coming from the computer he left with her before going back to DC. Standing on still shaky legs, she shuffles to the kitchen and opens the laptop, choosing this time to sit at the kitchen table. Before her nerves could take over, she hit the accept call button and held her breath. Suddenly, his beautiful face appeared on the screen and more tears ran down their faces as they saw each other for the first time in almost a month. "Hi Ziva." She laughed at the simplicity of his words.

"Hello Tony." A smile broke across each of their faces, the ones they reserved for each other.

"So, pregnant huh?"

"Yes. I um, I am pregnant. I am going to have a baby."

"We." He stressed the word, making sure to get his point across. "We are going to have a baby. Oh my gosh I'm gonna be a dad." His declaration made Ziva's eyes go wide and her eyebrows raise. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong. It is just. You do not have to deal with this Tony. I pushed you away and made you leave and I have no right asking you to take on this responsibility!" The more she rambled the more the tears continued to fall and she silently cursed herself for being so emotional again.

"Deal with it? Ziva I know you're not asking me to take on this responsibility, I want to. That baby is not just yours, it's ours. This baby is something we created together out of love and, I don't know about you but, that night was the best night of my life and I don't regret it a bit. I want to be there for you and for our baby." Sincerity shone through his eyes and it made her cry even harder.

"Our baby. Those are words I never thought I would say to you." She wiped at her eyes with her shirt sleeve and watched as he did the same with his sweatshirt. "Tony, are you sure? I do not want you to feel obligated –" His hand up on the screen made her stop mid-sentence.

"Ziva, I've never been more sure of anything in my life other than the fact that I love you." Ziva gasped, shocked again and didn't know how many more surprises she could take tonight. She was shocked even more, however, by his next words. "You know what, I can't do this here. I'll be on the next flight to Tel-Aviv."

"Tony!" Ziva yelled his name as he started to walk away to get his tablet. "Thank you. You are going to be an amazing dad and, I. I love you too."

 _ **Three Days Later**_

It had taken some careful storytelling and finagling to convince Gibbs to let him take a few days off but the team leader finally relented and he was able to tell Ziva he would be there by the weekend. Now, just two days later, he's sitting in the airport at midnight waiting for boarding call. The announcement was finally made that his plane was boarding so he got out his phone and sent out a quick text.

" _Count to a million. I'm on my way."_

Her response came just seconds later and reassured him this visit would not be like the last.

" _I will be waiting."_


	3. Chapter 3

" _You can't dress it up, in lace or rhinestones. Don't matter if you're in a crowd, or home all alone."_

" _Count to a million. I'm on my way."_

" _I will be waiting."_

By the time his flight landed in Israel at 11:00 PM local time he was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. During the flight, he had imagined every possible scenario for how this meeting with Ziva would go, from holding her in his arms and vowing never to let them go to her declining all help and him getting on a return flight to America never to see them again, although he refused to accept the latter. In a perfect situation, she would come back to D.C. with him where they would raise their child together. He could already picture a little girl with Ziva's complexion, unruly hair, and beautiful eyes and his mischievous smile. The sound of a man grumbling in Hebrew brought him out of his thoughts and he quickly collected his bag that just appeared on the carousel. He began walking toward the exit to catch a cab when he saw her out of the corner of his eye, holding a sign that read "Daddy to Be."

After replying to Tony that she would be waiting for him, she quickly became nervous about seeing him in person again and how he would react now that he's had time to process her news. Would he hug her hard and beg her to come home with him? Or would he decide he wanted nothing to do with either of them and leave before she could even talk to him? Not wanting to think about the what-ifs, she begins putting her plan in place for meeting him at the airport. She heads to her office and grabs paper and a pen, ready to write a welcome sign like she had seen in many movies she had watched with him. It took a lot of thought, but she finally came up with the perfect greeting, wrote it out quickly, and then placed the paper on her kitchen table where she would be sure to grab it before heading to the airport. His plane wouldn't be landing for another five hours, so she decided a nap was needed so they would have plenty of time to talk when he arrived.

The grin spreading across his face at the sight of her sign was contagious as a smile broke across her face. He paused to take her in before walking quickly to meet her in the middle, as she had started walking towards him. Not sure where to start, they both whispered a shaky "Hi" and laughed that they were still in-synch even after almost a month apart. Setting down his bag, he slowly stepped toward her, bringing a hand up to touch her shoulder. Immediately, she dropped the sign and stepped into him and his arms came up to encircle her, pulling her into an intimate embrace. Tears were now falling from each's eyes at the emotions hit them that they were finally together again. They stayed that way for several minutes before Ziva pulled back, wiping at her eyes, only this time his hand came up to cradle her cheek and he used his thumb to brush away the tears that were still falling.

"Look at me, I am a mess." He tilted his head to the side and stared at her with nothing but adoration in his eyes.

"You, Ziva David, are not a mess." The smile she gave him verified that he had said the right thing so he continued. "Besides, if anyone's a mess here I am." Ziva lightly shook her head and brought her hand up to wipe the few tears that were left remaining on his cheeks.

"You, Anthony DiNozzo, are definitely not a mess either. But if you were, then I guess we can be a mess together."

"Together. Gosh I really love that word coming from you." They suddenly realized that they must look ridiculous, standing close together in the middle of an airport, crying, and stepped back from one another. He leaned down and grabbed his luggage and the "Daddy-to-be" sign she had previously held. Taking the sign, he tried to place it on his shirt by tucking the corners into his shirt collar but it fell, fluttering to the floor. This time, Ziva bent over and picked it up, pulled out two bobby pins from her hair, and clipped it to his shirt.

"There, now it will stay." The look she gave him made him think she wasn't just talking about the sign and gave him hope for their future.

"So Mommy-to-be, ready?" She smiled at his label for her, thinking it was ridiculous but loving it at the same time. Falling into step beside him as they walked toward the exit, she reached down and grabbed his hand and squeezed.

"Oh yes, I am very ready." They headed to her car hand-in-hand with smiles on their faces, ready for the next step.

 _ **Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed so far! I am overwhelmed at the amount of response this story has received, every review fuels me to keep writing so please keep them coming! This is not the end of the story, I expect one or two more chapters after this one, maybe more if I really get into a groove.**_


End file.
